Machinal, Old Vic Theatre Review
Reviewed by Bronagh for Theatre and Tonic.
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
Content warnings: adult themes, strobe lighting and periods of complete darkness.
Machinal is based on the real life story of Ruth Snyder, an American woman who murdered her husband and was sentenced to death by execution 96 years ago. Machinal covers the back story of ‘Helen Jones’, otherwise known as ‘Young Woman’, and the deafening societal norms of the time. Machinal premiered mere months after Snyder’s execution, thrilling and shocking its Broadway audience. But just how well does it translate to a London stage in 2024?
Times are very different now; in 2024 you would rarely hear of somebody ‘having’ to get married and give up their career. If anything it’s quite a ridiculous idea in this day and age. Machinal shows Young Woman, whose name we find out when she’s up in court for the murder of her husband, suffocated and tied down by societal norms. Young Woman is sick of public transport. Sick of her job. Time goes on and she can no longer be silent on these matters, and can no longer hide her sheer disgust.
The stage is a yellow ‘wedge’ for the use of a better word, transformed into many settings: a subway train, an office, a speakeasy and a courtroom to name a few. We see Young Woman meltdown in each setting. We cut to the busy office, where gossip flies about and phones are ringing. Young Woman arrives – late as ever – and eyebrows are raised. Young Woman lives with her mum, who is delighted that Young Woman’s older, wealthy boss wants to marry her. Young Woman responds to this by screaming, writhing, shouting… yet marries him anyway and proceeds to be disgusted by him on their honeymoon, and even more so once she gives birth to their daughter.
Machinal is a good one hour and fifty minutes long with no interval. I personally felt like this really dragged at certain points, and either could have somehow been condensed or at least an interval added. The content, dare I say, didn’t thrill or excite me the way it would have back in the 1920s. I could see what was coming a mile off. Perhaps I expected too much for what is, in reality, a very old show.
For me the best slot was ‘Intimate’, when Young Woman met a young man in a speakeasy. The ‘type’ of person she wanted to marry, the one who would pass on a head of curly hair to her future child. They spend the night together, while The Old Vic auditorium is plunged into darkness, culminating in a near-pathetic declaration of gratefulness to him.
This isn’t to say the show wasn’t impressive in other ways. Rosie Sheehy’s performance is actually incredible. Speaking in a very broad Brooklyn accent that could bend steel, she twists and turns, convulses and wretches, almost monstrous. This is a woman with a lot of psychological turmoil going on, and Sheehy portrays this amazingly well. The lighting used is brilliant. The audience are enveloped in darkness, then bathing in bright light for the murder trial.
Overall, I can see why Machinal would have been a thrilling experience back in the day. I can also see why people would really enjoy it now. However, for me I struggled to keep focused and felt like parts dragged. I cannot fault the production itself or the cast and crew, who really did shine throughout.
At the Old Vic until 1st June 2024.
★ ★ ★
